PreSeason Meeting
by Mulderette
Summary: The TW cast gathers for a pre-season meeting with The Powers That Be. Contains some spoilers for Season Five


Title: Pre-Season Meeting  
  
Author: Lynne Facella  
  
Disclaimer: All characters are the property of John Wells and Edward Allen Bernero. I wish they were mine but unfortunately they're not.  
  
Spoilers: Contains some spoilers for Season Five. Read at your own risk.  
  
Notes: Thanks to Mona for suggesting this idea :)  
  
Summary: The TW cast gathers for a pre-season meeting with The Powers That Be.  
  
******  
  
Bosco stepped into the deserted meeting room and glanced at the long conference table. There were a couple of pitchers of water and a stack of glasses on top of it. "Big spenders," he muttered to himself. He was surprised to see that he was the first to arrive. He was usually late for everything. He heard the creak of the door opening and turned to see Faith walking into the room.   
  
"Faith! How have you been? How was your summer?" Bosco asked with a grin as he moved towards her, intending to give her a hug.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Boscorelli?" Fred, who had been standing in the doorway, unnoticed by Bosco, bellowed. "Leave my wife alone. Haven't you caused enough trouble?"  
  
"Touchy, touchy," Bosco said, a smirk on his face. "I can see a vacation sure hasn't done you any good. You're as foul-tempered as ever."  
  
Faith rolled her eyes as she took a seat directly across the table from Bosco. It seemed like the new season was going to be more of the same old thing between her husband and her partner. She was really sick of it, but didn't' seem to be able to do much to stop it.   
  
The door to the meeting room opened, revealing Sully and Ty. "Hey guys, how are you doing?" Ty smiled as the two men came in and sat down.   
  
"Good, Davis, how about yourself?" Bosco asked.  
  
"Can't complain," Ty replied.   
  
Bosco eyed Sully. "You put on a few pounds there, Sullivan?"   
  
"No, I didn't put on a few pounds," Sully snapped, glaring back at him. "Sure looks like your head got fatter though."  
  
"Ha ha." Bosco rolled his eyes. "Real funny."  
  
The door opened again and Carlos, Doc and Kim strolled in. "I thought we were going to come in together?" Carlos complained as he shot an annoyed look at Ty. "I came out of the bathroom and you were already gone. Not to mention, you took such a long shower today that there was no hot water left for me. Have a little consideration."   
  
"I told you that Sully was picking me up and to be ready if you wanted to come in with us. Trouble with you is you just don't listen."  
  
"I do listen. You never said anything like that."  
  
Doc broke into the conversation. "I have to agree with Davis, Carlos. You really don't listen a lot of the time."  
  
"What?" Carlos gave Doc a flabbergasted look as he turned to face him. "For God's sake, Doc. I work with you. Haven't you ever heard of loyalty?"  
  
Kim shook her head as she went and sat down next to Faith. "Men... Can't live with them, can't live without them."   
  
"I don't know...sometimes I think it might be pretty easy to live without them," Faith grumbled softly as she glanced over at Fred.   
  
Kim's eyes followed Faith's and she privately agreed as far as Fred was concerned, but then her gaze roamed to Bosco. Now he was an entirely different story. "You've got to admit, Bosco's hot."   
  
Faith gave Kim a sharp look, but didn't reply. Whether or not she thought Bosco was hot was her own business and no one else's.   
  
"Hey everyone, I'm here, we can get this show on the road," Jimmy stated as he swaggered into the room. "So what exactly is this about anyhow? He lowered himself onto a chair then smiled brightly at Kim and Faith, knowing the effect his dimples would have on the women. He always liked to bring a little happiness into someone's day if he could.  
  
"Nobody knows." Bosco replied, giving Jimmy an aggravated look when he noticed Faith smiling back at the firefighter.   
  
"We've never had one of these meetings before," Doc mused thoughtfully. "Hope they're not going to fire us."  
  
"They aren't going to fire us," Bosco scoffed.   
  
"How do you know?" Fred asked. "Maybe they're gonna fire you. Hopefully we'll find out that you get blown away in the season premiere.   
  
Bosco smiled confidently and shook his head slowly, his gaze meeting Fred's. "Fred, Fred, Fred. None of those guns was even aimed at me. I think I can guarantee that I won't be getting fired. Though if anyone is going to be fired I think it should be you. About time Faith divorced your sorry ass."  
  
"Screw you."   
  
"Jag-off."   
  
"I wish they'd start already," Sully grumbled. God, he couldn't stand having to listen to these idiots much longer. Not to mention the fact that he had been sure this was going to be a lunch meeting. He was starved and all they were giving them was water? Damn, he knew there were budget cuts going on, but this was ridiculous.   
  
"They can't begin without their number one star." Cruz smiled as she came into the room followed by Sasha Monroe.   
  
Faith nodded to Sasha and glared at Cruz. "Number one star? Oh you've got to be kidding me."   
  
"Oh I'm the star alright." Cruz sat down next to Bosco and tossed her hair back. "Looking good, Boscorelli."   
  
Bosco ignored Cruz, choosing not to even look in her direction.   
  
"Is everybody here?" a loud deep voice suddenly echoed through the room.  
  
Startled, everyone exchanged glances and then looked upward to see a loudspeaker attached to the wall.   
  
"Uh...yeah, everyone's here," Bosco said, deciding to take the initiative in speaking for the group.   
  
"Well then, let us begin. The main reason I've asked you all to come here today is to chat a bit about the upcoming season. I'd also like to address any questions or concerns you might have. Anyone?"   
  
After a few moments of silence, Doc spoke up nervously. "We're not getting fired, are we?"  
  
"No, no. I can assure you that you're not getting fired," the voice said reassuringly.   
  
"Good. That's good." Doc sat back, obviously much more relaxed upon hearing the news.   
  
The room was once again enveloped in silence before Kim spoke up. "Noble isn't here...is he supposed to be at this meeting?"  
  
"No. Noble was not invited to the meeting. He will not be returning."  
  
"Oh..." Kim sighed softly and stared down at the table. Damn. She'd enjoyed their storyline quite a bit. She just didn't seem to have very much luck with men.   
  
"How about Lieu?" Jimmy asked. He knew that only the main cast members had been asked to attend the meeting, but he was still curious.   
  
"We're not here to discuss the storylines of others," the voice stated evasively. "Please stick to your own stories." He paused for a few moments and then continued. "You, however, will be made temporary lieutenant in an upcoming episode."   
  
"Me?" Jimmy asked, looking stunned. He liked the fact that he was going to get a promotion, but felt bad that it was coming at Lieu's expense.   
  
Ty raised his hand and then realized that he couldn't be seen, so he put it back down self-consciously. "Umm...I was wondering...am I going to get some kind of a love interest or something this year?"  
  
Kim gasped and gave him an appalled look. "A love interest? Alex has just been killed and you're thinking about a love interest?"  
  
"I...no...um...I mean not right away," he stammered, not meeting Kim's gaze. "I was just wondering...I mean it's been a while..."   
  
"Is that all you men can think about?" Kim asked.  
  
"Us men?" Carlos asked, glancing over at Kim. "And what the hell were you doing with Noble? Playing tiddlywinks?"  
  
"What does this have to do with you anyway?" Kim retorted, staring at Carlos. "What are you, jealous?"  
  
"Jealous? I don't think so."   
  
"How'd this get to be about you two?" Ty asked, looking at Kim and then Carlos. "It's my question." His eyes moved over to Sasha and he smiled. "Hey. Sasha and I have a history at the academy. Maybe we can get together."  
  
"I don't think you're quite ready for a love interest," the voice stated. "You need to come to terms with what happened to Alex before anything like that can happen."   
  
"We didn't even date for very long..." Ty said with a sigh.  
  
"It doesn't just go away," Sully said, looking at the young man beside him. "You've got to deal with these things, play them out. Speaking of which. What about me? How am I doing?"   
  
"You're coming along and you're going to have a big storyline coming up for November sweeps. You're going to be helping to protect a judge who's being stalked."  
  
"Yeah? That sounds pretty good." Sully crossed his arms over his chest and sat back, a satisfied smile on his face.   
  
"What about me and Faith?" Fred asked loudly. "What's going to be going on with us?"   
  
"Let's just say things are going to be rather difficult for your family as the season begins. You're all going to have a lot to deal with."   
  
"That sounds pretty bad," Faith said, concern in her eyes.   
  
"Boo hoo," Cruz broke in with a chuckle. "Poor Faith. Guess everything can't always be sunshine and roses for you."   
  
"You bitch. You know nothing about my life," Faith snapped. "I can tell you it's far from sunshine and roses."   
  
"Whatever." Cruz rolled her eyes and looked up towards the loudspeaker. "What about me?"   
  
"You're going to have a rough time. Bosco as well."  
  
"That's cool. I can take it," Cruz said with a smug smile.   
  
"Don't be so sure," Bosco muttered.  
  
"You should be nice," Cruz said as she reached for him and gently stroked his cheek. "You never know what our future holds. My star might need some help to get through his troubles."   
  
"Not gonna happen," he said, moving away from her. "And don't call me your star." It creeped him out whenever she said it.   
  
"Hey Bosco, maybe you shouldn't fight so hard," Fred guffawed. "She's a fine looking woman."   
  
"Shut up."   
  
"Don't tell me what to do," Fred said, his eyes flashing angrily.  
  
"Fred, just give it a rest," Faith pleaded. It was getting so that she hated to be seen with him in public. Then again, it wasn't like he was any great joy in private either. If it wasn't for the kids...  
  
"Do you people always act like this?" the voice boomed over the loudspeaker "Because I'm not finding it very professional at all. In fact, I'm getting pretty annoyed."   
  
The room immediately went silent as the cast members exchanged nervous looks.   
  
"Good, now perhaps you'll give me your attention for a few minutes so we can wrap this up. I'm a very busy man." The voice then went on to explain the first week's shooting schedule and gave various details for the first episode. Finally the meeting came to its conclusion. "We have very high hopes for this season. We've got a new time slot and we're going to have a lot of exciting things coming up. Now if there aren't any more questions..." He paused for a bit but no one spoke up. "Okay, meeting adjourned. Those of you who are going to be on the set tomorrow, don't be late."  
  
"Well that was fun," Jimmy mumbled as he got to his feet.  
  
"I can't believe they didn't serve lunch," Sully complained. "I mean...not even a snack. They could have at least given us some fruit to munch on...something..."   
  
Ty patted Sully's shoulder. "Come on, Sul. We'll go get some lunch. Anyone want to join us?"   
  
"Yeah I could eat," Bosco replied then looked towards Faith. "You coming?"   
  
Faith nodded just as Fred shook his head. "No. We've got things to do," he said.  
  
"I wasn't talking to you." Bosco said irritably.   
  
Fred put his arm around Faith and tightened his grip on her. "We're a team."  
  
"Oh please," Bosco said, rolling his eyes.   
  
"Fred, cut it out." Faith squirmed out of her husband's grasp. "For God's sake. If I want to go to lunch, I will."   
  
"Not with me!" he bellowed. "I'm going home."  
  
"Go home," Faith stated. "I don't care what you do."  
  
"Fine." Red-faced, Fred glared at Faith and Bosco one last time then stomped off.   
  
"What an ass," Bosco mumbled.   
  
"Let's just go," Faith said.   
  
"You guys coming?" Ty asked, glancing at the rest of the cast members, all of whom nodded except for Cruz.   
  
"I have better things to do," she said as she stood up and began to walk out of the room.   
  
"We didn't want you to come anyhow," Bosco stated.  
  
"You talk a tough game, Boscorelli," Cruz said, turning back to him with a smile on her lips. "But I know how to get to you. Don't forget that. We'll be together again."   
  
"In your dreams," Bosco scoffed.   
  
"No, in your dreams." Cruz smiled and blew him a kiss, then sashayed out of the room.   
  
"She's a real piece of work," Bosco said, shaking his head.   
  
"Can we please go now? I'm starving," Carlos whined.   
  
Sully breathed a sigh of relief, glad that someone else had voiced what he himself was feeling. He knew if he had said it, Bosco would have made some rude remark about his weight.   
  
"Yeah let's go...anyone feel like Chinese?" Bosco asked.  
  
"I was thinking Thai food," Ty stated.   
  
"How about a steak?" Sully suggested.  
  
The cast headed out, still debating about where to get lunch on their last official day of vacation. Although outwardly, it might not have appeared so, inwardly they were all really excited and could hardly wait for season five to begin. 


End file.
